tantalizing

American  

[tan-tl-ahy-zing] / ˈtæn tlˌaɪ zɪŋ /

adjective

1. having or exhibiting something that provokes or arouses expectation, interest, or desire, especially that which remains unobtainable or beyond one's reach.

   a tantalizing taste of success.

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Other Word Forms

• tantalizingly adverb
• untantalizing adjective

Etymology

Origin of tantalizing

First recorded in 1650–60; tantalize + -ing ²

Explanation

Something tantalizing is tempting: like a meal that smells amazing and makes you want to eat it. Tantalizing things are very appealing. When something is tantalizing, it makes you want it, even if it's totally out of reach. An exciting movie trailer could be tantalizing if it makes you want to see the movie. A little part of a song can be tantalizing if it tempts you to hear more. Smells — when they're good smells — can be very tantalizing. Just walking through a good restaurant, smelling and looking at the food, is a tantalizing experience.

Example Sentences

So-called leveraged exchange-traded funds offer a tantalizing prospect—to double, or sometimes triple, stock market moves.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

But then, he flashed the tantalizing potential that the Dodgers saw when they signed him before last season.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

And yet the prospect of using origami to improve existing technologies is, for some, tantalizing.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

This elusive, tantalizing novel aims for the effect of the raga—to conjure “the sadness, the richness, the pleasure of the waiting and the wandering.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Each time they came upon a tantalizing long shot, one of them set to work on making the case for it, in an elaborate presentation, complete with PowerPoint slides.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• alluring